The present invention relates to an educational and developmental toy, and more particularly to such a toy of the type which forms a wire maze which is strung with blocks or beads.
Toys of the type comprising wire mazes strung with wooden blocks or beads are used to strengthen young hands and develop motor skills in children. Such toys have been manufactured and sold for several years. These toys essentially consist of a wooden base on which are mounted the two ends of rigid wires bent into interesting shapes. These wires carry free moving, brightly coloured beads. A number of different wires, usually of different colours, are placed on the base with their ends at different locations on the base. They provide opportunity for fun play for the children, who can move the beads into different patterns, exercising their counting ability, strategic thinking, spacial awareness and physical dexterity. They may be used in conjunction with a teacher or parent to assist in the development of language skills (e.g. "top", "bottom", "middle", "over", "under", "left", "right", "through", "up", "down", etcetera). When the wires and beads are of multiple colours and the beads are of different shapes, they can be used to teach colour and shape recognition.
The conventional construction of these toys with multiple wires on a wooden base, while admirably suited to achieve the intended purpose, is relatively complicated and expensive. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a toy of the wire maze type which is of a simpler, more economical construction.